Car Hire in Berlin, Germany
Berlin
Berlin, once a small Barbarian fishing village, is today one of the worlds biggest metropolises. The city oversaw the rise and fall of Hitler, and suffered almost complete destruction in 1945, before being carved in two by the Berlin Wall as the front-line of the Iron Curtain. Since German re-unification and the fall of the wall in 1989, Berlin is getting to its feet as an international capital, cosmopolitan and affluent. Today, the city is home to 3.5 million Berliners, and is better off and more peaceful than ever before. Newly spruced-up to host the World Cup 2006, visitors flock to Berlin to witness the city today, and enjoys its art, culture and nightlife, as well as to remember its historyAttractions
Central Berlins famous Museum Island is in the process of being redesigned. Comprising the Pergamon Museum, Neues Museum, Bodemuseum and the Old National Gallery, the island is enough to keep any visitor busy for several years with its enormous collections of art and antiquities. However, you wont have time for that, as galleries and museums, large and small, private and national, abound on every street. Modern art is a particularly vibrant scene, as Germanys impressive national collections can be viewed alongside the work of the many young artists from all over the world who choose to live and exhibit in Berlin.The distinctive glass dome in the middle of the famous Reichstag building attracts long queues, as does Frederick the Greats collection of Egyptian artefacts, which are housed on the edge of East Berlin, directly opposite the Communist regimes Peoples Palace. Sadly, this former concert hall has fewer fans than Fredericks museum, and the dismantling of the palace, an enormous, rectangular block covered in bronze-tinted mirrored glass, began in 2006 although the city do not yet know what they are going to build to replace it.
It is a true cliché that in Berlin, history is all around you, from the bullet scars in the walls of many buildings to the thousands of small brass plaques set into the pavements across Berlin to commemorate the lives of Berlins Jews. The plaques are inscribed with the names, dates of birth and death and concentration camp of the inhabitants of the houses they are placed in front of. They work as a subtle partner to the official Holocaust Memorial which is situated near the famous Brandenberg Gate.
On a lighter note, the newly-opened currywurst museum is either a post-modern celebration of this iconic German foodstuff, or a bad joke, depending on your viewpoint
One of Berlins main attractions for visitors and citizens alike is its nightlife, with a vibrant gay scene; parties and generally lively atmosphere following the fall of the wall. This atmosphere is celebrated annually in the form of the world-famous Love Parade festival that takes to the streets of Berlin every summer for three days check out Loveparade.net for news about the next one.
Shopping
Berlins flea markets and second-hand stores attract buyers from all over the world, with huge warehouse-stores like Colours and Garage selling vintage clothes by the kilo.More exclusive, but equally hip, are Berlins guerrilla stores. Young international designers like Comme des Garçons open up short-term shops which occupy empty buildings for a period of months before closing down. This guerrilla shopping encapsulates the limited-edition, always on-the-move, scene-conscious Berlin aesthetic, with German designers continually innovating and selling their goods in markets, warehouses and sometimes art galleries. The Mitte and East Berlin tend to be the favoured haunting-grounds for arts and designer boutique shopping. For serious art shoppers, museums and private galleries sell artwork.
Germany has also produced many mainstream designers and labels - Karl Lagerfield, Jil Sander and Joop! are all natives. The famous KaDeWe is the largest department store on the European continent.
Eating and drinking
German cuisine is not traditionally celebrated, but, like much else in Berlin, eating out has become internationalised, design-conscious and stylish.Schnitzel and wurst are available from street stalls and from traditional German restaurants that are usually furnished with dark wood and, sometimes, a vaguely comical soundtrack of old-fashioned German drinking songs. German cuisine is often meaty, but there should be no problem finding something a vegetarian option in most establishments, and cafes selling the traditional afternoon coffee and cake offer an escape from all that wurst
In the Mitte and particularly around Hackischemarkt there are a number of small, classier restaurants that sit alongside their fast-food neighbours, offering French, Japanese, Turkish, Italian and other modern international foods.
Germans tip substantially it is to be expected that as much as 20% will be added to your bill as a service charge.
Nightlife
Traditionally, German pubs and beer gardens are located on street corners, dishing out large horns of beer. This is all a long way from the upmarket cocktail bars in West Berlin that serve an increasingly affluent crowd of young professionals. Berlins nightlife is legendary, and caters for all tastes.Prenzlauer Berg and Kreuzberg, areas which started out as scruffy and edgy, are being colonised by permanent populations of chain-bars and restaurants, but still retain a trendy feel. The art crowd and accompanying underground scene are capricious, moving from abandoned warehouses in East Berlin to the stylish bars in the West. As with guerrilla shops, so too guerrilla clubs open up and close down almost overnight, and the fashionable Berliners are always on the move.
The English-language paper Ex-Berliner has some listings. Sign up to club mailing lists for further information about parties and/or changeable opening hours. These mailing lists are accessed through individual club websites. You may find some of the better hidden night-time attractions online at www.ivebeenthere.co.uk. The Berlin branch of the nightlife networkcan be useful too. Despite these resources, out-of-towners who have no local contacts can still find it takes a lot of research (not to mention lengthy taxi journeys) to locate some of the events. Furthermore, at the shadier end of the spectrum, some club nights are not for the faint-hearted.
Airport Information
Berlin Schoenefeld airport is on the South-Eastern tip of Berlins metro map, 20km from the city centre. This large airport charters a great number of international flights and serves, amongst others, discount airlines flying regularly to and from the UK.Berlin Tegel airport is more central, located just 8km northwest of the city centre, with good U-Bahn (underground) and S-Bahn (overground) rail connections. The airport serves fewer airlines than Schoenefeld but also flies internationally.
The official (German-language) website for the two airports is www.berlin-airport.de.
Tourist Information
Berlins tourist information centre can be found at:Europa Centre,
Budapester Strasse,
Charlottenburg
- Telephone from within Germany: 250 025
- from outside Germany: 01805 754 040
- Email: information@btm.de
- Official Berlin Tourist Information website: www.btm.de
- Official Berlin website: www.berlin.de
Car Hire Locations
Auto Europe offices in Berlin:
- Berlin Tegel Airport, Desk In Terminal
- Berlin Tempelhof Airport, Desk In Terminal
- Berlin Schoenefeld Airport, Desk In Terminal
- Berlin Schoenfeld Airport, Desk In Terminal
- Berlin City Office, 43 Budapester Strasse
- Berlin City Office-schoeneberg, 101-104 Kurfuerstenstr.
- Berlin City Office- Schoenberg, 24, Budapester Strasse
- Berlin City Office- Karl Marx, 264 Karl Marx Str.
- Berlin City Office - Wedding, 39 Seestr.
- Berlin City Office - Messedamn, 8 Messedamn
- Berlin City Office- Holzmarkt, 15 - 18 Holzmarkt Str
- Berlin City Office - Albrecht, 103 Albrecht Strasse
- Berlin City Office-lichtenberg, 49-60 Siegfriedstr.
- Berlin Downtown Office, 366 Landsberger Allee
- Berlin City Office-alexanderpl, 8 Alexanderplatz
- Berlin South West Office, Mariendorfer Damm 195
- Berlin City Office- Neukoelln, 260 Karl-marx-str.
- Berlin City Office- Spandau, 16 Seegefelderstr.
- Berlin Spandau Office, Brunsbuetteler Damm 82
- Berlin Downtown Office, Berlin South Steglitz
- Berlin Railstation Office, Banhof Zoologischer Garten
- Berlin Railstation Office, Main Railway Station-zoo
- Berlin Main Railroad Station, Hauptbahnhof-europaplatz 1
- Berlin Tegel Airport, ** Desk In Terminal **
- Berlin Main Railway Station, Europaplatz 1
- Berlin Main Railway Station, Europaplatz 1, Ground Floor
- Berlin Tegel Airport, H&c Friesen Holdings Ltd.
- Berlin Downtown, Europa Center,
- Berlin Downtown Office, Friedrichstrasse, 50 - 55
- Berlin Downtown, Gottlieb - Dunkel Str 43 - 44
- Berlin Downtown Office, Siegfriedstrasse, 168
- Berlin Downtown - Pankow, Blankenburgerstrasse 85
- Berlin Downtown Office, Mecklenburgische Strasse 23
- Berlin Downtown Office, Charlottenstrasse 79 / 80
- Berlin Westin Office, Friedrichstr. 158 - 164
- Berlin City Office- Schoenberg, 39, Budapester Strasse
- Berlin-spandau Hbf, Seegefelder Strasse 1, Spandau, Berlin
- Berlin - Albrechtstr, Albrechtstr.103, Berlin 12167
- Berlin - Landsberger, Landsberger Allee 366, Berlin, 12681
- Berlin - Budapester Strasse, Budapester Strasse 43 (multi Storey Car Park Entrance, Neurnberger Str.) Berlin, 10787
- Berlin - Holzmarktstr, Holzmarktstr. 15-18, Berlin 10179
- Berlin - Mitte (centre), Leipziger Str. 104, Berlin, 10117, De
- Berlin - Mitte Ii, Tieckstrasse 18-19, Berlin, 10115, De
- Berlin City Nahe Ku-damm, Nuernberger Str. 65, Berlin, 10787, De
- Berlin Railway Mainstn Lehrter Bhf, Europaplatz 1 10557 Berlin Hbf - Lehrter Bhf
- Berlin Tempelhof, Berlin Tempelhof, Tempelhofer Weg 6, 12099 Germany.
- Berlin (spandau), Seegefelder Str 16, Gegenueber Bahnhof Bln-spandau, 13597 Germany.
- Berlin - Alexanderplatz, Alexanderplatz 8, Berlin, 10178, De
- Berlin - Schoeneberg, Kurfuerstenstr. 101, Berlin, 10787, De
- Berlin - Steglitz, Berlin - Steglitz, Albrechtstrasse 103, 12167 Germany.
- Berlin - Lichtenberg, Berlin - Lichtenberg, Siegfriedstr 49-60, Industrial Area, 10365 Germany.
- Berlin - Adlershof, Berlin - Adlershof, Rudower Chaussee 25, Im Hause Der Humboldt Uni, 12489 Germany.
- Bahnhof Zoo Station, Berlin - Bahnhof Zoo, Hardenbergplatz 11/db Reisezentrum , Delivery/collection Service From Berco 3, 10623 Germany
- Berlin - Schoenefeld Airport, Flughafen Sch?nefeld, Berlin
- Berlin - Tempelhof Airport, Berlin - Tempelhof Airport
- Berlin Tegel Airport, Flughafen Tegel, Tegel, Berlin
- Berlin - Karl-marx-strasse, Karl-marx-strasse 264, Berlin
- Berlin City, Joachimstaler Street. 19, Berlin, 10719
- Berlin Downtown, Charlottenstr. 79/80, Berlin, 10117
- Berlin - Pankow, Blankenburgerstrasse 85
- Berlin-lichtenberg, Siegfriedstrasse 168
- Berlin-wilmersdorf, Mecklenburgische Strasse 23
- Berlin-charlottenburg, Kaiserdamm 40/theodor-heuss-p., Berlin-charlottenburg, 14057, De
- Berlin-neukolln Hotel Estrel, Sonnenallee 225, Berlin Neukoelln, 12057, De
- Bahnhof Spandau Station, Klosterstrasse, Berlin - Bahnhof Spandau, 13597, De
- Berlin - Wedding, Seestr. 39, Berlin - Wedding, 13353, De
- Berlin - Neukoelln, Karl-marx-str. 260, Berlin - Neukoelln, 12057, De
- Berlin Tiergarten, Huttenstrasse 50, Berlin Tiergarten, 10553, De
- Berlin (fairgroung), Messedamm 8-busbahnhof Am Funkturm, 14057 Germany.
- Berlin Marzahn, Blumberger Damm 2, Berlin Marzahn, 12683, De
- Ostbahnhof Railway Station, Strasse Der Pariser Kommune 5, Berlin - Ostbahnhof, 10243, De
- Flughafen Tegel, Berlin
- Kelly Strasse, Berlin
- Berlin Schoenefeld Ap, Berlin
- Budapester Str 24, Berlin
- Berlin Tempelhof, Berlin
- Aurich Downtown,
- Berlin Bahnhof Zoo Downtown,
- Berlin Blankenburger Downtown,
- Berlin City Downtown,
- Berlin City West And Ost Downtown,
- Berlin Lichtenburg Downtown,
- Berlin Mitte Downtown,
- Berlin Neukoelln Downtown,
- Berlin Schonefeld Airport,
- Moabit Downtown,
- Wittenburg Downtown,
- Berlin Downtown, Joachimstaler Street. 19, Berlin, D - 10719
- Berlin Downtown Charlotten Str., Charlottenstr. 79/80, Berlin, De - 10117
- Berlin Downtown Damm, Brunsbuetteler Damm 82berlin 3, 13581
- Berlin Downtown East, Landsberger Allee 366berlin East, 12681
- Berlin Downtown South West, Albrechtstr 103berlin-south West , 12167
- Berlin Downtown Zoo, Im Bahnhof Zoo Berlinberlin Bhf Zoo, 10623
- Berlin Hbf Downtown, Europaplatz 1,berlin,de - 10557
- Berlin Rail Station, Europaplatz 110557 Berlin
- Berlin Schoenberg, Budapester Str. 2410787berlin
- Berlin Schoenefeld Airport, Flughafen Schoenefeldberlin 12527
- Berlin Tegel Airport, Mietwagenzentrum13405 Berlin
- Berlin Tempelhof Airport, Flughafen Tempelhof, 12101
- Berlin Westin, Friedrich Str. 158-164,eingang Behrensstr.10117berlin
Car Hire Prices
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between £17.06 and £62.12 per day |
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between £17.71 and £48.43 per day |
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between £19.35 and £60.31 per day |
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between £19.88 and £53.87 per day |
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between £20.63 and £63.88 per day |
Comments and Tips
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